House of Assembly Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1) 55 1 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Question Time Kingston District Council Wastewater Kingston District Council Wastewater Mr McBRIDE House of Assembly MacKillop Kingston District Council Wastewater Mr McBRIDE (MacKillop) (14:21): My question is to the Minister for Housing. Can the minister advise what assistance the government is offering the Kingston District Council in relation to wastewater? With your leave, Mr Speaker, and the leave of the house, I will explain. Leave granted. Mr McBRIDE House of Assembly MacKillop Mr McBRIDE: The council has areas in Kingston and Cape Jaffa without adequate wastewater infrastructure. This is holding back development in the area, which is impacting the housing shortage in the region. The Hon. N.D. CHAMPION House of Assembly Taylor Minister for Housing and Urban Development Minister for Housing Infrastructure Minister for Planning The Hon. N.D. CHAMPION (Taylor—Minister for Housing and Urban Development, Minister for Housing Infrastructure, Minister for Planning) (14:21): I certainly thank the member for MacKillop for his question. He has been passionate about regional housing for a long time. While the Office for Regional Housing out of Renewal is a government initiative, it was inspired in part by his very strong advocacy for his community. Of course, Cape Jaffa is a complex challenge to provide water and wastewater. Together, the Deputy Premier and I have been taking action there to make sure that, at the very least, things don't get worse. We have a plan obviously, over time, to make sure things get better. In regard to assistance given to the council, I met with the council in April this year and I have met with them previously. They are a good council. They are committed to housing in the region, and they want to make sure that they are participants in it. As I understand it, in regard to wastewater they run their own wastewater scheme, as many councils do. SA Water has a pretty limited capacity in the South-East, mainly around Mount Gambier, Naracoorte and Millicent, and we rely on councils to run these wastewater schemes outside of that network. As I understand it, they have applied to the Local Government Finance Authority for a loan to basically improve and expand their network. That is something we are always happy to give advice on, if they require it. As I understand it, next week Matt Hunt from the Office for Regional Housing is going down to visit the council and to discuss with them what, if anything, we can do. The Office for Regional Housing is there to do precisely this, to assist councils, where we can and within the budget we have, to provide assistance with civil works and other things. We will see what comes of those conversations, but I would thank the member for bringing it to the house's attention and also thank Ian Hart, the CEO of Kingston District Council, for just being a positive, thoughtful partner in this regard. Of course, we will help wherever we can.